Post #5494

Mohammed ben Salman Is Coaxing Trump Into the Total War Against Iran 🔤🔤🔤🔤1️⃣ Saudi Arabia has urged the US to ramp up attacks on Iran, a Saudi intelligence source has confirmed, while it is weighing a decision on whether to join the fight directly. The Saudi source confirmed reporting in the New York Times that said the kingdom’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has urged Donald Trump not to cut short his war against Iran, and that the US-Israeli campaign represented a “historic opportunity” to remake the Middle East. The intelligence source said Riyadh was not just calling for the military campaign to be continued, but to be intensified. Trump appeared to confirm the report about the crown prince’s role, telling journalists on Tuesday: “Yeah, he’s a warrior. He’s fighting with us.” There are no reports of active Saudi military involvement in the nearly four-week-old war so far, but a Saudi political analyst said the kingdom would be likely to take that step if peace efforts led by Pakistan failed. “What matters now is Iran’s decision,” Mohammed Alhamed, a Saudi geopolitical analyst, said. “If Iran engages seriously, there is still a path to contain escalation. If it rejects the conditions and continues its attacks, the threshold for Saudi action will be crossed.” Alhamed added that Saudi Arabia “is not reacting impulsively”. “It is calibrating its response and preparing for a scenario where escalation, if it happens, will be deliberate and decisive,” he said, adding that Riyadh “has not been pushing for war.” Saudi Arabia has come under attack from Iranian drones, as part of Tehran’s response to the US-Israeli attack on 28 February. One drone strike a week ago hit an oil refinery in Yanbu on Saudi Red Sea coast. Saudi Arabia’s ability to transport its oil exports by pipeline to the Red Sea has meant it is not as vulnerable as its neighbours to Iran’s tactic of imposing a near-total blockade on oil tanker shipments leaving the Gulf through the strait of Hormuz. The attack on Yanbu signalled an Iranian warning that it could also threaten that economic lifeline. That threat would be multiplied if Iran’s allies in Yemen, the Houthi movement, joined the war with its own missile arsenal. “I believe that Saudi Arabia still maintains cautious neutrality in the Iran-Israel-US war,” Hesham Alghannam, a Saudi defence expert told Agence France-Presse. But he added: “If the Houthis strike Saudi assets, Riyadh may shift toward defensive coalition support or limited retaliation.” #saudi#arabia#iran#mohammed#salman#trump 📱American Оbserver - Stay up to date on all important events 🇺🇸